The infamous Dalmore - a compulsory stop along one's single malt journey. It's a bottle from the Single Malt Whisky Club in 2008 that like the Talisker, was sitting at the back of my cabinet for a few years waiting for my undivided attention prior tasting. Opened 2012-02-11.
That colour is amazing. Bottle clearly states that caramel is added ("Mit Farbstoff") which gives it that deep, polished mahogany colour.
Nose:
First whiff is predominantly that of yeasty, cereally, "mealy" character. There's a hint of cabbage water about this too. Not really pleasant and quite unexpected. Not a great first impression. Once past the initial disappointment though, I pick up some winey, waxy and feinty notes under the yeasty surface in equal measure - the best parts being hints of praline, cream and cocoa. Opens up further with time in the glass (over one hour, during which I've had several sips!) to reveal a previously understated caramel sweetness which is quite pleasant. The yeastiness has faded considerably and I'm feeling a lot better about this malt. With water: Much the same, although, do I detect a hint of dried apple now?
Taste:
Really mellow, soft, non-descript start to this - had to make sure I actually took a sip there. I did indeed. Nothing is apparent at first impact. Not a single thing - it's all wrapped up in some kind of waxy packaging. Oh wait, some soft malty sweetness makes itself known. But where is the alcohol, anyway? Ahh here it comes, finally, arriving several seconds later. How bizarre. The first sip requires quite accentuated "swishing" around the mouth to reveal anything out of the soft haze. I get red wine, chewy bread, some tartness, a soft oak pepper spice finish as I swallow. Subsequent sips don't reveal anything new, but the alcohol comes quicker each time with fairly muted malt and sherry undercurrents throughout. With water: Seems to accentuate the spice on the palate and on the finish, might also be slightly sweeter as well.
Finish:
Menthol and oak spice linger for a very short while in an abbreviated finish. A mere hint of savoury saltiness left on my lips, now where did that come from? Odd. But quite more-ish.
Balance:
The nose itself offers quite some complexity, once the yeastiness is out of the way of course! There's about three layers to the nose which goes some way to explain the "haziness" on the palette, as if components are tightly integrated across the flavour spectrum and one must really concentrate to tease them out. I don't know whether this is a good thing in this particular malt, as for a 12 year old, I would expect vibrancy in the notes and some "character" whereas I'm only getting subdued, rather dull notes instead. Not sure what to make of all that.
Overall, this is not bad. It has its moments and the nose is really the winner here (after the aforementioned yeastiness has dissipated). A testament to how hard I've been working (haha!) it's now been 1 hour and 50 minutes since I poured my dram and my initial disappointment has abated; I'm actually looking forward to my next pour from this bottle to see if there's any discernible improvement.
Score: N20 T19 F20 B19 (78)
Round two (@ 1 week, 2012-02-18)
Nose:
Slight yeastiness gives way to mint chocolate, leafy herbs, karinto (Japanese fried brown sugar coated snack), dark rum. Wow, this has really opened up now.
Taste:
Delivery now has bite and character. The meek, waxy delivery parcel has been torn away. Sweet demerara sugared malt accompanied by a good helping of woody spices and developing chili now kick in. Mouth-filling, engaging and robust delivery.
Finish:
Sherry-influenced spices trail off leaving dry, sweet malt, menthol and dark rum flavours in a short-medium finish. Very nice.
Balance:
That nose has increased in complexity and with dramatically scaled back yeastiness is now very agreeable indeed. Palette balance markedly improved with good malty hit and liberal spices to balance out the sweetness. Dalmore, take a bow. For an entry-level malt, this is great stuff.
Score: N22 T21 F21 B22 (86)
Round three (@ 1 month, 2012-03-12)
Nose:
Cookie dough, butter cream, brandy, golden syrup, dark chocolate, sultanas, pudding, rose petals. Slight yeastiness remains on first contact but dissipates as creamy sweet notes develop. Gorgeous nose. A hint of honeydew melon arrives later. There’s so much going on here, I’m nosing this “blind” but I think this is definitely better than it was previously. Top shelf nose. With water: Grass, menthol, mint and other greenery.
Taste:
Softly sweet, mellow oak, mouth coating smoothness, nutty oils, dark rum, bitter chocolate, toasted malt, spices. With water: Drowns the oils and brings out more bitterness - better without.
Finish:
Bitter dark chocolate accompanied by dry sherry, nutmeg and clove spices in a short but very enjoyable finish.
Balance:
Nothing out of place. No off notes besides slight yeastiness remaining in the nose upon first contact. A cozy, elegant sweetness on nose and palette - not severe vanilla or toffee but Christmas cake or pudding out of the oven.
Score: N23 T22 F22 B23 (90)
Round four (@ 3 months, 2012-05-11)
Nose:
The signature yeasty / bready note is still evident, but toned down and now inter-mingling effortlessly with smooth and sweet sherry notes as to make for a pleasant nose. I'm getting hints of chocolate cake, raisins, dark brown sugar, fudge, choc biscuits, coffee beans, leather and some tropical fruit note that I can't quite work out. Glorious - I could nose this for hours. It just gets sweeter with time in the glass, too.
Taste:
Interestingly the oak hits the palette first, riding on a wave of "spirity" malt, it's quite chewy and rich with sherry and chocolate present, there's a good helping of spices and just some tartness and tannins rounding it out. Some rough edges to this now - is it oxidation? It doesn't carry the telltale "fuzziness" I get with oxidised whiskies, so it could just be natural evolution - it's certainly not bad at all, quite good actually! On the evidence it's holding up quite nicely.
Finish:
Drying, tannic, bitter sweet (in a good way) as aforementioned flavours linger and pop out occasionally to say "g'day!". As per the palette, a little less elegant than memory serves but nonetheless provides a warming and lingering tasty finish.
Balance:The dry sherry cuts through the sweetness of the nose and makes for a great dry/sweet combination. Palette is rich and robust and although less memorable than the nose it still delivers - the initial oak spice doesn't run away on the palette and is rather complemented adequately by sweet, tannic chewy malt and a nice tart "edge".
Score: N23 T21 F21 B22 (87)
Verdict
I'll simply repeat what I wrote after the first week - Dalmore, take a bow. For an entry-level malt, this is great stuff!
Final (average) score: N23 T21 F21 B22 (87) *
* Excluding initial "outlying" score to give more representative view of this whisky.
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